About Wilmington Waterfront Park

Location: Wilmington, California
Owner: Port of Los Angeles
Designer: Sasaki Associates Inc.
Size: 29.2 acres

Wilmington Waterfront Park creates a new public realm that mediates the relationship between the residential neighborhood of Wilmington and the intensely active Port of Los Angeles. Mitigating the industrial impact of the port, it provides a safe and accessible space that celebrates the vibrant community culture within a previously underserved neighborhood of Los Angeles.

The nearly 30-acre (12 ha) site reclaims derelict, industrial brownfield land as new public open space and serves as a new recreational amenity while mitigating the threat of hazardous environmental waste, air and noise pollution, and dangerous industrial traffic from neighborhood streets. It was designed as an element of the Container Terminal Project environmental impact report to provide public open space between port operations and adjacent residences. The report called for a new buffer area, designed after consensus was reached through a series of public planning workshops that began in 2004.

The park was constructed on vacant property adjacent to and owned by the port. It enables the continued productivity and success of the Port of Los Angeles—the largest container port in North America, generating over $400 million in annual revenue and 18,000 jobs—by mitigating industrial impacts, promoting higher property values, and improving the social and environmental quality of the adjacent Wilmington neighborhood.

Wilmington Waterfront Park provides an unprecedented model for urban communities looking to cultivate a strong industrial economy that fuels job creation while also promoting healthy, vibrant, and affordable communities.